Many times we do not understand the deep plans and purposes of God. Without the divine wisdom to comprehend these spiritual truths, we won’t understand how to operate according to the new covenant of grace. For instance, instead of receiving what Jesus has done for us, we will be confused and try to accomplish what only Jesus can accomplish in our lives. We will try to make Him do something that He has already done. However, when we understand the purposes of the Law and grace, we can fully embrace Jesus Christ and His finished work.

The Law could not accomplish what Jesus did. The Law is perfect, but it can’t make us perfect. It sheds light on our sin, making our sin and trespasses more apparent (Romans 5:20, AMP). The problem with the Law is its perfection. It is so perfect that we cannot keep all of it. And to disobey one of the laws (the Ten Commandments and the 600 plus laws that derived from them) is to disobey them all (James 2:10, AMP). When we believe in Jesus, He gives us right-standing with God that we could not earn on our own.   

We needed grace to be free from the bondage that came with trying to fulfill all the Law. John 1:14 states, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” When Jesus came to the earth, He was full of grace and truth. He was and is grace embodied (or personified). He came and delivered people from all types of bondage. He came with sacrificial love and tender mercy. Therefore, the grace of God has a face, and it is the face of Jesus Christ.

Initially, Jesus came to deliver the Jews from the bondage of the Law, which was not extended to the Gentiles, and to introduce the Jews and Gentiles to His love, grace, and mercy. When we believe in Jesus Christ and make Him the Lord of our lives, we all become a part of the new covenant of grace.  

Being under grace doesn’t exempt us from all laws. Jesus gave us a commandment to live by. He said, “I give you a new commandment: that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another.  By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves] (John 13:34, 35, AMP). As born-again Christians, Jesus gives us His love, and with His love He helps us to love others. We, in our human effort alone, can never love the way Jesus does. Our human love will always have conditions attached to it. Only Jesus can help us to love others with the God-kind of love, which is unconditional.  

With this love, we will ultimately fulfill the spirit of the Law, the very essence of it. Romans 13:10, AMP, states, “Love does no wrong to one’s neighbor [it never hurts anybody]. Therefore love meets all the requirements and is the fulfilling of the Law.”